System for managing object storage and retrieval in partitioned storage media

Abstract

The invention is directed to a system for managing storage of an object in a storage system having a plurality of different storage media divided into different partitions, which includes a storage processor for determining whether a particular storage partition has reached a predetermined capacity threshold; a data migration processor for identifying within the particular storage partition an object to be moved and for identifying a target destination partition for the particular object in response to the capacity determination, the migration processor identifying the target destination partition based on one or more selected from the group consisting of (a) media type of the particular storage partition, and (b) information identifying related objects in the target destination partition; and a transfer processor for transferring data representing the particular object to the target destination partition.

Description

[0001]This is a non-provisional application of provisional application Ser. No. 60 / 318,124 by B. M. Flamma et al. filed Sep. 8, 2001.FIELD OF THE INVENTION[0002]The present invention is related to a computerized system for managing object storage and retrieval in partitioned storage media. More particularly, the present invention is related to a computerized system for managing storage of an object using the media type of the particular storage partition, and / or information identifying related objects in a target destination partition.BACKGROUND[0003]Document-imaging systems are often used as a platform for the management of healthcare related documents and the integration of multimedia content in a client server environment. Document imaging is often used for long-term storage of patient data and hospital. This data is often received electronically from a clinical or financial system or it can be input from a paper format (e.g., scanning). Electronic data (in particular, demographi...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

The invention is a system that manages the storage of objects in a storage system with multiple storage media. It includes a processor that determines when a storage partition has reached its capacity limit. When this happens, the system identifies an object within the partition and selects a target destination partition for the object based on the media type and information about related objects. The system then transfers the data representing the object to the target destination partition. This system helps optimize storage capacity and improve data migration efficiency.

Problems solved by technology

While commercial software is available to store and retrieve such data, these systems have significant drawbacks that greatly reduce the performance of hierarchical storage management systems.

The systems of the prior art, however, do not have the ability to efficiently group related data on the storage media.

Also, hardware or software failures may sometimes block access to data.

This is especially true of hardware failures, where devices need to be repaired, replaced, restored, and / or rebuilt before the data they contained is accessible again to users.

As a result, hardware and software errors can cause data to be unavailable.

Unfortunately, the systems of the prior art do not have the ability to automatically alternate copy access to alleviate this problem.

Failures may occur for a variety of reasons while a document is being stored, retrieved, or manipulated.

When these failures occur, the document is placed in an “error” state and the caller is informed that their requested transaction has failed.

If nothing further happened to the document, it would be left in a transitional or error state, it would be unavailable to users, and support personnel would have to manually correct the problem before the document would be available again to users.

This could result in long periods of time where a document is not accessible, and could result in a significant drain on support personnel to restore documents to a stable, accessible state.

The systems of the prior art do not have the ability to automatically make document repairs.

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